Status Report
Linda Miller, External Liaison
February - May 2004

Work referenced within this report is based on advocacy, community outreach, and identifying new data sources and distribution trends within the community, associated with "Endeavor 1: Responding to a broader and more diverse community" and "Endeavor 2: Comprehensive Support Services, [Data services, systems, and tools]" from the Unidata 2008 Proposal. There is overlap of external activities in the areas of "Real-time, self-managing data flows" (Endeavor 3), Endeavor 4: Software to analyze and visualize geoscience data", along with "Distributed, organized collections of digital material" (Endeavor 5), and "Improved data access infrastructure" (Endeavor 6).

Community Outreach

Coordinated Unidata seminars. The seminars are a mix of Unidata staff presentations, and other important activities taking place at UCAR/NCAR and other external activities important to Unidata.

• A technical overview of the Abstract Data Distribution Environment (ADDE) by Don Murray, 13 May 2004
• MeteoForum - An International Network of Meteorological Training Centers for the 21st Century
  by Tom Yoksas and Tim Spangler, 6 April 2004

Continued planning as co-chair of AMS/Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology. The main theme of the January 2005 meeting is "Building the Earth Information System," with sub-themes of "Living with a Limited Water Supply" and "Living in the Coastal Zone." IIPS is planning three joint sessions with:

1. Education Symposium entitled, "Cyberinfrastructure to Support Atmospheric and Oceanic Education: Examples and Strategies"
2. Global Change and Climate Variations Symposium entitled, "Distributed Earth Science Information Systems"
3. Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for Atmosphere, Ocean and Land Systems, related to global environmental observing systems and the global climate observing system

Other sessions include:

• Internet Applications, Web Portals, and Cyberinfrastructure
• GIS Applications
• Radar IIPS and Applications
• Applications in Meteorology, Oceanography, Hydrology and Climatology, GIS applications
• AWIPS and related systems and applications
• Advances and Applications in Transportation Weather
• IIPS and Numerical Weather Prediction
• Global Meteorological and Hydrological Service Updates
• European and other International Applications
• Satellite IIPS and Applications including Satellite Ocean Remote Sensing

American Geophysical Union (AGU) - planning

Submitted a proposal for a Union session to be included for the Fall Annual Meeting of the AGU in San Francisco. The proposed session is entitled, "The Water Cycle and Societal Impacts: Integrated Cyberinfrastructure for Observations and Forecasts." Several co-convenors have been lined up for the session including: Peter Cornillon, University of Rhode Island; Ben Domenico, Unidata; Steve Hankin, PMEL; Anton Krueger, University of Iowa; David Maidment, CUAHSI; Phil Sharfstein, FNMOC; Olga Wihelmi, NCAR/ESIG

Data Access and Distribution

• Coordination of Call for Participation, with NOAA/NWS, for Level II data distribution. Focal point for the NWS concerning the Level II data distribution effort.
  • Developed a news release regarding Level II data distribution.
• DODS/OPeNDAP
  • Yuan Ho will provide the OPeNDAP status report
  • A reduction in the NASA REASoN funding for the DODS/OPeNDAP project has been implemented.

Miscellaneous

• Participated on the Reorganization Task Force (RTF) for Unidata
• Attended NOAA's Stakeholder Forum, April 16, 2004